


The Mutant Link

by mindofbooks



Series: Rhea Keldau [2]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Post-X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Post-X-Men: Days of Future Past, Pre-X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men Inspired, X-Men References, X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Movie) Spoilers, X-Men: Days of Future Past References, X-Men: Days of Future Past Spoilers, X-Men: First Class (2011)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29289243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindofbooks/pseuds/mindofbooks
Summary: Rhea Keldau has the ability to read and control emotions, an ability she doesn't fully understand or know how to control and so she goes to look for Charles Xavier, the guy who knows everything there is to possibly know about mutants, a mutant himself. They only agreed that he would teach her control, they didn't anticipate the accident that would forge a connection between their minds, permanently. They didn't anticipate knowing every thought and emotion that came out of the other and they definitely didn't anticipate that friendship that would span decades and save the world more than once.Note: This is part of a series I am doing based around the multiverse. Rhea will feature in many of my fics, set in different universes and while you don't need to read the others there will be small references to other stories within these fics, this is the second in the series, the first being based in Star Wars (The Mandalorian Jedi).
Relationships: Charles Xavier/Original Female Character, Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Moira MacTaggert/Charles Xavier
Series: Rhea Keldau [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150994
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter One

**The first two chapters are effectively a prequel just explaining stuff, the actual story starts in Chapter Three so you can kinda skim read these first two if you want ******

****

So there he was, the man I had been searching for. He wasn't exactly what I was expecting, no to be completely honest I was not expecting a man of his talents to be sitting at a bar in Oxford, flirting with every girl he laid eyes on, I wouldn't have recognized him if not for the incessant talk about mutations, how anyone found that remotely attractive I will never understand but then again I've never thought of him, or anyone for that matter, in any way you could call romantic but at that particular moment I could use his roving eyes to my advantage which I most definitely did, the advantages of being a vaguely good looking woman in the sixties. 

It took him less than ten minutes to slide into the seat in front of me and he sure did start off strong, "Mutated LCT gene, otherwise known as lactose intolerance, very common and yet you are one of the few people I have actually met who has it." He smirked at me slightly and I just gave him a slightly annoyed look but the comment only served to prove what his mutation was, that and the fact that as almost as soon as he had taken a seat two of his fingers had briefly touched his temple,  
"Isn't considered impolite to go rooting around someones mind or is that just me?" "I'm sorry? I don't quite catch your meaning..." "Sorry that probably wasn't the best way to start this conversation. You are Charles Xavier right? Specializing in mutations, about to become a Professor?"  
"... Yes?" "Rhea Keldau, nice to meet you. Look I, I need your help. You're a telepath right? Reading and controlling minds that kind of thing? Before you answer that I will be able to tell if you lie." He stared at me for a second, weighing the odds of what would happen if he told me the truth or not, he probably read my mind but eventually he nodded,  
"Something like that, what do you need help with?"  
"Control. My power set is similar, I'm an empath, kind of. I can read emotions, control them and I can uh, I can connect with other mutants minds, briefly but during that time I can take on their powers and they can take on mine, our minds effectively become one larger entity for a few minutes but I can't fully control what happens in those minutes, things have gone wrong in the past, things that I don't want happening again."  
"What kind of things?"  
"The kind of things that go wrong whenever a strong mutant loses control, I have no doubt they have happened with you but with me, someone died because of it and I can't let that happen again but my mutation also isn't one I can use whenever I please, I feel everything everyone is feeling all the time, I can drown it out but I can't stop it so I figured I may as well learn how to control it and out of all the mutants I have found you seem to have the most control, or at least a sense of control, and your abilities include mine, to a smaller extent and in a slightly different way." I could feel him thinking, trying to work out what to do or say, if I had judged him correctly, and I was a very good judge of character, he would say yes, he couldn't help himself, but there was always a possibility of me getting it wrong.  
"Can you read the emotions of everyone in here?"  
"Yes. The bartender is pissed off, the girl you were just talking to now has a slight crush on you, as do the previous two girls you talked to as well, I have no idea why but anyway, the woman over there, who I can only assume is with you from the way she keeps glancing over at us is desperately bored, the man behind me who is trying to get a good look at my ass is drunk and lonely, not a good combination and you, you have extensive mental shields which unfortunately have not been designed to withstand an empath, you are confused, impressed and not exactly sober." It was almost too easy and Xavier did look pretty impressed,  
"That is pretty cool but I do have to go, as you said my sister is getting bored but here," he handed me a card as he stood up, "Come to the university at ten o'clock tomorrow, I'll be working in the library, if anyone tries to stop you show them that card."  
"Thank you, Charles."  
"Don't thank me yet, Rhea." We smiled at each other and sauntered off towards his sister who looked a little more than annoyed as she dragged him out of the pub and presumably back to their house. 

In that moment, watching him walk away as I felt that card press into my hand, I felt for the first time in a long while that maybe everything would be okay. 

****

******This has been a while in the making but I am so excited to write this story, it has been so fun planning how this will all come together and how her character is different from how she is in the Mandalorian Jedi. I love the idea of the multiverse and it is hopefully going to be awesome putting her into a lot of different universes! ******** **


	2. Chapter Two

I didn't stay at the pub much longer but even then it was well after midnight by the time I got back to the tiny ramshackle flat I was renting. It wasn't until I closed the door behind that I actually looked at the card. It was blank, of course it was. The message was clear enough, if I wanted to get to him I would have to use my mutation, make people uninterested, find a way to become invisible without actually doing so. I so very nearly tore it up in frustration but I didn't, I slipped it into my pocket, I wasn't sure why at the time because that piece of card would help me out quite a bit down the line, especially when it came to giving Charles a metaphorical slap around the head.

I managed to sleep in, which wasn't surprising considering the time I got back but it was one of those moments when I truly wished my powers did something useful for me, like super speed or something, I still managed to get to the university vaguely on time which ended with me sitting under a tree and just waiting because I eventually realized he had never told me which campus or which library or where. That's the problem with leaving in a rush, you leave out the important details and unlike in movies I didn't just magically know where everything was.

I didn't have to wait long until I saw him walking across the grass towards me, he threw an apple at my face which I just managed to catch and sat down next to me,  
"I was wondering whether you were coming."  
"Yeah well unlike you I can't read minds and this place is a kriffing maze, plus I figured you would find me eventually."   
"You could have found me if you wanted to, your mind would be able to recognize my emotional signature and track it if you wanted to, you picked a nice spot by the way, secluded, no one around."  
"It wasn't intentional, trust me, I just sent out as many bad feelings as possible and people stayed away." Charles smiled slightly at that and then swiveled around to face me,  
"I've been thinking about how best it is to go about this and I think the best thing would be to understand your abilities first, what exactly you can do. I've seen the reading people's emotions, I gather you were controlling peoples emotions to keep them away from here and now I want to see this mind connection that you can make."  
"I don't- I'm not sure that's a good idea..."  
"Rhea whatever happened last time, it won't happen this time. My powers are under control and I am stronger than whoever it was before me and before you get mad at me for reading your mind, I wasn't, you are radiating your thoughts, I can't stop myself from picking them up," I started to shake my head but he softly interrupted me, "I won't die, I promise." I knew he wasn't lying but that didn't necessarily mean he was telling the truth. I let out a shaky breath and nodded slowly,  
"I'm holding you to that promise."   
"My ghost will buy you a drink if I break it." We both smiled at that and I let out another shaky breath and carefully placed my fingers on either side of his head. 

His mental shield was down slightly, just enough to let me in and I carefully swerved around memories, going deep into his mind as I searched for the part of him that I could connect to me, it took a while and I could sense both his anxiety and mine rising but I didn't give up and I eventually found it, a small section that just felt right, it was different with every person but it was always there and I allowed it to merge into my own mind, I could very suddenly feel his presence and we both let out a sigh of relief, it had worked and neither of us were dying, naturally as soon as I thought that things went wrong. It was as if the tiny hole I had opened to connect our minds had suddenly grown exponentially and everything was leaking out and I could see his whole life flashing in front of me and I somehow knew the same was happening for him, every secret, every lie, every regret, every treasured memory suddenly we knew it all and I couldn't stop it, from the outside we probably looked like two nerds just sitting face to face and staring intensely at each other but inside chaos had erupted.

I don't know how long it lasted but it did stop after a while but something had changed, it was like I had just handed half of myself over to Charles and he had handed half of himself over to me, we very suddenly knew more about each other than we knew about ourselves,  
"That, that doesn't usually happen..."  
"Yeah, I gathered..." We were both out of breath, completely spent, like the kind of feeling I imagine you would get it you did a super long triathlon but it was mental instead.

It took us more than a while to figure out what had happened, about two weeks actually during which the connection did not fade a single, bit, in fact it seemed to grow stronger. Charles came up with a lot of theories in between writing his thesis, all of them were based around the same idea, our powers were too similar and as soon as our minds had connected they thought it was the same thing, like a long lost brother or something, I don't know he explained it in a very complicated way but that was the basis of it. Effectively I had made the connection that normally lasted a few minutes last, well forever I guess. We could draw power from the other, use the others power if they allowed it and then of course came the added bonus of knowing every thought, memory and emotion that went through each other. It was relatively easy to tune out but it was kriffing annoying if we were thinking hard which Charles happened to be doing a lot at that particular time. It was confusing, it was weird but we got used to it, accepted our fate as you could say.

Whenever Charles was writing his thesis I hung out with Raven who, as it turned out, was great fun to be with, we ate far too much ice cream and watched a ridiculous amount of movies, she was also a great gossip on Charles which we both found to fun for our own good.

It was nice getting to know them but of course, after a while real life got in the way and by real life I meant saving the world from villainous psychopaths, something that happened far too often in my opinion.

**These first two chapters have been a bit of a prequel, just explaining stuff but we'll start getting into the actual movie now, I hope you are enjoying this so far and yeah, these first chapters take place about 4-6 months before X Men: The Last Stand actually takes place but I hope you understand it and thank you for reading Xx ******


	3. Chapter Three

"So, how does it feel to be a professor?" Raven was grinning and Charles slung his arm around her as we exited the building,  
"Oh don't say that, I don't get called professor until I have a teaching position."  
"And you are bald, or nearly bald, with loads of wrinkles and crusty old tartan suits," Raven laughed at that and Charles gave my arm a light smack, "You would totally rock a bald head although it would have to fall out in a totally awesome way, like getting possessed or something." I couldn't help but smirk when I saw the look on his face and Raven laughed again,  
"Come now Rhea we wouldn't want Charles to loose such thick, long, luscious locks." I made my face completely serious and nodded as solemnly as I could, reaching up to lightly ruffle said locks,  
"Of course of course, they are his signature look, where would you be without them hey?"  
"Stop talking about my inevitable baldness and tell me about the definite need we have to go get a drink."  
"We have a definite need to go get a drink!" Raven parroted,  
"I couldn't agree more." He grinned and we strolled off down the street, rain soaking our shoulders.

Getting a drink apparently meant Charles standing on a chair downing the largest, and weirdest shaped glass of beer I had ever seen while the entire pub cheered him on. I sighed and sat down at the bar with a massive glass of ice filled water which I was very prepared to dump on his head as a way to sober him up. Anyway he managed to do it without spilling the entire thing down his shirt and he was about to join me at the bar when another woman intercepted him,  
"Congratulations Professor."  
"Oh thank you, it's uh, it's harder than it looks-"  
She doesn't mean about that you idiot, He threw me as subtle a glare as he could manage in his drunken state and smiled at the woman,  
"I meant at your presentation." She smiled grimly, feeling exasperated but Charles didn't seem to pick up on any of that and he put a hand on her arm,  
"Oh you were at my presentation? How nice of you, thank you."   
"Moira MacTaggert." She stuck her hand out, straight to the point, not getting pulled under by his ridiculous charm, I was starting to like her.  
Right this is the part where you do not flirt with her but instead act like a normal human being, shake her hand and ask her what she wants.  
I don't need you coaching me through this, I'm not stupid and besides I'm not a normal human being. I groaned, just managing to keep it internal and left him to his stupid ways.  
"Charles Xavier, it is very nice to meet you." He shook her hand and I could only thank the kriffing gods that he didn't do anything weird like start touching her hair and going on about some random mutated gene that made her hair brown or auburn or whatever... nope never mind that was exactly what he did right after she asked to talk to him for a minute and I could only be thankful that he led her away to a table so I didn't have to listen to it, of course I had to deal with his very drunken thoughts that he wasn't doing to well keeping to himself but I just stood up and went to sit with Raven, handing her the glass as I sat down,  
"That is for you to throw over your head when he comes over here."  
"He's flirting again?" I nodded,  
"It's atrocious and good lord you do not want to know even half the things he is thinking of right now."  
"Okay now I really do." She leaned forwards, suddenly very interested in a new way she could tease her brother,  
"Ugh fine let me see, uh beer, how pretty she is, how much he wants a girlfriend..." Raven snorted and I couldn't help a small laugh, "Huh wait, conversations changing, he's feeling confused. Well, now that is interesting..."  
"What is it?"  
"The woman he is talking to wants to meet up with him tomorrow, something about genetic mutations, she wants to know if the mutations he talks about in his thesis, if mutants could already exist. Kriffing hell... he's uh looking into her memories, she saw mutants, quite a few and they don't look friendly... Damn." We sat in silence for a bit until Charles made his way over to us, suddenly a lot more sober than he was just minutes ago,  
"I assume you were listening in." We both nodded and he didn't look at all annoyed when he said, "I guess we've got work to do then."  
"Well this should be fun, I just love helping you make presentations," My tone was completely sarcastic when I said it and it was true, he was constantly changing the things we knew definitely existed into maybes, possibilities that could occur in the future, turning the truth into a theory. It was infuriating and none of us enjoyed it however it was necessary. The world wasn't ready for mutants, not when they could barely accept women as living breathing humans, or people with different colored skin. The world was an unfair place and I wasn't sure I would be able to cope with the amount of fear and hatred that would immediately erupt around us.

**Hopefully the story is starting to pick up now and I know the previous chapters were a bit eh but I hope you guys enjoyed this one better. Let me know if I am getting stuff wrong and yeah Xx ******


	4. Chapter Four

Naturally no one believed Charles' presentation, most people never did and everyone in the room looked, and felt, extremely bored and uninterested, and more than a bit pissed off that they had wasted time coming to this presentation. The guy in charge went off at Moira MacTaggert, he didn't raise his voice but it was impossible to miss the annoyance he clearly felt but just when I thought it was all over and Moira got up to leave Charles told her to sit down and I sighed,  
This is a bad idea.

There is no other way they will listen to us, I have no choice.

They'll just think you are a spy.  
It's worth a shot, we need to find out who those other mutants were and what they were doing, this is the best chance we have at finding them.  
"Agent MacTaggert, please, sit down," She sat down cautiously and Charles turned to face the others in the room, "Look you spent the entire time I was talking thinking about the pie that is being served downstairs, it is apple pecan by the way, of course you don't believe me," He turned to face Moira, "I'm afraid I haven't been entirely honest with you, sorry about that. You see one of the many things my mutation allows me to do is that I can read your mind." Everyone took that as a joke, why wouldn't they? One of them men snickered slightly and said,  
"They do this in magic shows, you gonna ask me to think of a number between one and ten huh?" Charles smiled slightly at that and shook his head,  
"No, no although I might ask you about William, your son correct? Or maybe I will ask about the Jupiter Missiles being placed in Turkey at this very moment." It was the wrong thing to say and the guy who had gone off at Moira the first time started going on about Charles being a spy  
See? What did I tell you? 

I could feel him about to respond but before he could Raven stood up, changing as she went and the entire room shut up and before we knew it there were two Agent Strykers in the room and then one and Raven stood there in her natural blue form. No one spoke and I turned to look out at the room,  
"Is that a good enough magic trick for all of you or do you want me to send you all home crying your eyes and screaming for your Mother?" I smiled at them, it wasn't a nice smile, it was cold, calculating and just asking for trouble. The Director pointed a shaking finger at us, ordering his men to take us out of there and lock us down but a man at the back of the room interrupted,  
"I'll take them, my office is off site."

We went with him and as we were heading towards his car I quietly said to Charles, "We are going to need Moira."  
"What? Oh right I'll handle that." He did, presumably freezing time around her and asking to be picked up because by the time we got to the garage Moira was in a car, pulling up in front of us, we all go it, Charles manipulating the man to get into the car and off we went to hunt down Sebastian Shaw.

Naturally we went to the coast guard and we got a massive ship and a few lifeboats. Charles, Moira and I were out on the deck of the ship as Charles tracked Shaw but suddenly he stopped,  
"I've lost him, there is someone like me on there, a telepath, wow this is incredible I've never met another telepath, Rhea do you mind if I?"  
"No no go ahead." he began drawing power from me, trying to break through the other telepaths grip on him but it was no use, he shook his head and let go,  
"I'm sorry but I'm not going to be of much use anymore."  
"What was that?" Moira was looking between us in confusion,  
"That? Oh Charles was drawing power from me, converting my mutation into his as it crossed into his mind to try and find Shaw again."  
"I thought you were an empath?"  
"I am, it's complicated and not a story for now, just know that we can do it." She was about to say more but we all stopped when we saw what was happening in front of us.

"Oh my god..."  
"What the hell?" Some kind of mini tornado, presumably from another mutant with Shaw, was spinning towards the lifeboats that were speeding ahead of us, flipping them over as the sped over the waves. Charles waved us inside and we ran towards the door but just before we reached it both Charles and I stopped and looked back, Charles winced slightly and Moira looked at both of us in alarm,  
"There is someone else out there." We came back to the front of the ship just in time to see an anchor rising out of the water, about to come crashing down on Shaw's ship, Charles pointed it out, not that it was needed, we could all see what was happening and we watched in awe as it went whipping through the boat. The man in the water then turned to focus on the submarine that was steadily speeding away from the boat, pulling with all his strength as he tried to pull it back,  
"Charles he's going to drown if he carries on..."   
"I know, I know," then he started screaming down, trying to get him to stop but it was no use, we were to far up and so Charles did the stupidest and most Charles like thing he could possibly do , he dived over the side of the boat. I looked away from the water, not wanting to see what was happening, I could feel it all anyway, Charles talking into the mans mind, Erik his name was, I only looked back when Moira touched me lightly on the shoulder and I turned to see them breaking the surface together and I let out a sigh of relief and then turned to look at the retreating form of that submarine, why did they always get away at first? It was bloody annoying.


	5. Chapter Five

The man, he never told us his name or if he did I can't remember him so lets just call him Fred, anyway, Fred did end up taking us to his facility, it was large, nice and for a secret base it didn't look all that secret. Erik ended up coming with us, apparently we were the quickest and easiest way he was going to get to Shaw, it was nice to know someone believed we actually had a chance but honestly I stayed away from him, it wasn't that he was rude or anything it was just uncomfortable being around him, he projected his emotions and loudly at that, there was an underlying sense of pain to everything he did and I tried to not let it effect me but well, I couldn't help it. 

We walked up to the building and Fred started going on about his research on mutants and the CIA and stuff which ended up with Charles sarcastically stating, "Fantastic, so we're the CIA's new mutant division?" Apparently Fred had no understanding of British sarcasm or he just thought that totally didn't sound weird in any capacity but he nodded,  
"Well, yes something along those lines." Charles and I shared a look,  
/So we're this guys guinea pigs now huh?  
/If you are determined to be pessimistic then sure, put it that way but if this research he has been doing is any good it might actually get us somewhere.  
/See the key words there are 'if' and 'might'.  
If we hadn't been in the middle of a research facility surrounded by non mutants who would probably want to 'examine' the connection between our minds I'm fairly sure he would have rolled his eyes and elbowed me.

Fred led us to a room that looked like a mix between a museum and a science lab where he introduced us to Hank McCoy who had great fun showing off the supersonic airplane he was designing, I couldn't help but smile at the pure joy and pride he felt as he talked about it. Fred stepped forwards to introduce us and Charles immediately stepped forwards to shake his hand, smiling widely,  
"How wonderful, another mutant!" Hank's mood suddenly dropped and I winced  
/Charles-   
He turned to look back at me and saw me visibly cringing as he suddenly became aware of both Hank and Fred's thoughts, "Oh Hank, I am so so sorry."   
/You should probably practice just you know, taking a quick peak before you talk to any mutant in front of a non-mutant...  
/Yeah, yeah I probably should... god I feel terrible  
/I know but hey I'm pretty sure he feels better now that he doesn't have to hide anymore

Hank was looking around the room nervously and his shoulders hunched over slightly as Fred approached to where he and Charles were standing, "Hank?"  
"Well you uh, you didn't ask so I guess I didn't tell..." The poor guy was pushing waves of comfortableness, so much so that even Charles managed to pick it up through me which only served to make him feel worse but Raven came forwards to break the tension,  
"So you're what? Super smart?" He laughed slightly and shrugged,  
"I wish that was all it was..." I leaned back on the railing and smiled,  
"Well seeing as Charles so kindly outed you it only seems fair that you get to show off, put him to shame." That got me a small smile from Hank who stepped out of his shoes and leaned down to take his socks off to reveal some seriously awesome hand feet and I walked forward and slung my arm over Charles' shoulders,  
"See, what did I say? Way cooler than telepathy."  
"Cooler than being an empath too." I didn't deny it but I did glare at him as we moved back to let Hank show off.

I couldn't help a slight gasp as he flipped and I turned away slightly, worried he would fall but when I looked back there he was hanging upside down, using his feet to cling onto the model plane and a startled laugh came out of me. Erik was looking, and feeling, thoroughly impressed and trying to hide it and Charles' thoughts consisted of a lot of oohs and ahs and Raven, well Charles and I didn't mention it and pretended we didn't notice the serious crush she had on Hank, and vice versa even though they had only met like ten minutes before. They had a super intense moment of staring at each other which made both Charles' and I seriously uncomfortable given the amount they were projecting both thought and emotion and we both avoided eye contact with anyone and everyone in the room, including each other. Fred broke the silence by suggesting he show us to where we could stay which we all very happily agreed to. Raven and Hank went off somewhere and Erik soon disappeared which seemed to make Charles think it was a good time to try and teach me chess, something I was excessively bad at and showed no sign of improving any time soon no matter how many memories or thoughts Charles showed me, sadly it seemed skills hadn't passed over with all the memories although you would think I would be able to learn from the memories of him learning but yeah, that didn't work out. We were in the middle of a game which Charles was very purposefully letting me win while pretending he wasn't which was a bit stupid seeing as I knew every thought that passed through his mind, but anyway we both suddenly stopped and looked up,  
"Erik."  
We got to the front doors before he did and waited in the shadows, well Charles waited in the shadows while I sat on one of the benches pushed into the concrete wall, swinging my legs and looking up at the stars.

Maybe two minutes later Erik walked out of the door holding a briefcase and looking extremely purposeful. He jerked to a stop when he saw me,  
"What are you doing?"  
"Sunbathing," I dead-panned. He sighed,  
"You can't stop me."  
"Did she ever say she was going to stop you?" Erik growled in frustration as Charles walked up behind him, "You know I'm surprised you have stayed this long, from what I know of you it is quite unusual."  
"You know nothing about me." I actually laughed at that,  
"That is possibly the stupidest thing you have ever said, or will ever say for that matter."  
"Stay out of my head. Both of you."   
I put my hands up,  
"Hey I wasn't rooting around in there and it's not my fault that you have been projecting every emotion you have ever felt right into my face all day."  
"Erik, I'm sorry but I have seen what Shaw did to you and like Rhea said, she felt your pain. We can help you, please. It isn't just us you are walking away from, here you have, we all have the chance to make a difference, to actually do something. Together."  
"We won't stop you leaving but don't kid yourself, you know one person can't take down Shaw alone, not even a mutant as powerful as you. You will die and I know you don't particularly care if you do but the rest of us do but maybe, just maybe together we might just stand a chance at stopping him because I don't know about you but I do not want to live through a war, not again."

I could feel him considering as I stood up and walked over to Charles, "We can all do with some friends, especially at a time like this." I smiled at him as we walked back inside and left him to make his decision.  
/I don't know about you but I think that went really well, do you think he'll stay?  
/It's his choice but he knows what will get him a better chance at killing Shaw, I guess we'll see, you know, on a completely different note, we should go stargazing sometime.  
/Now that sounds a whole load better than chess.  
Charles smiled and pulled me into a side hug, ruffling my hair,  
/One day, one day you will learn how to play chess and beat me.  
/In a fair game that doesn't involve you letting me win just because you feel bad for me.  
/Deal, and did I just get you to agree to actually learn chess?  
/Nope no the deal is now off.  
/We'll get there someday.  
/Maybe.

**Okay so italics just decided not to work at all so anything with a '/' in front of it is them talking to each other in their heads ******


	6. Chapter Six

Turns out Erik decided to stay and he walked straight into a conversation Charles and I were having with Fred, well I say conversation it was more Fred telling us about the radar instillation that Hank had turned into a transmitter used to amplify brain waves which he wanted Charles to use as a way to enhance his telepathic abilities, he apparently also wanted us to try it while he drew energy from me to see what difference it would make. He wanted to find other mutants to bring into his guinea pig division as I had taken to calling it,  
"What if they don't want to be found by you?" Erik was standing in the doorway, the briefcase he had been holding earlier still in his hand, I wonder how far he had gone before he decided to turn around,  
"So, you stayed." Erik just gave me a fed up look and turned back to Fred,  
"If mutants are to be discovered then it should be their own kind who do it. Charles and I will track them down, Rhea will stay here as a promise that we will return." I full on glared at him,  
"Thanks Erik, thanks a lot."  
"I'm just saying, Charles would never leave you behind."  
"He would never leave Raven behind, I'm coming, as backup. I won't go in with you, we will probably be headed to some strange places, you never know what might happen." Erik sighed but nodded and Fred piped up from his desk,  
"That, that is my machine out there and it is not your decision, it is Charles', and Rhea's and, and they are fine with the CIA being involved." Charles and I looked at each other,  
/Erik has a point, what the hell are mutants going to think if a bunch of CIA agents come charging in? They'll be gone before you can get a word in.  
He nodded slightly and looked at Erik and then back at Fred,  
"No, we aren't, I'm sorry but we are with Erik, we'll find them, alone. No CIA." He and Erik smiled slightly at each other and Fred looked more than a bit annoyed,  
"And if I say no?" We all turned to him and gave him an incredulous look,  
"Well I guess good luck seeing as Charles is the only person you can use your transmitter." I smiled at him and he swallowed slightly and nodded.

I had to admit for the first ever version of Cerebro it was pretty awesome, nothing compared to what it would be one day but you couldn't say that it wasn't impressive and it was made a whole lot better by Hank's enthusiasm,  
"I uh, I call it Cerebro, as in the, you know Spanish for brain," Charles laughed slightly snd nodded, looking highly impressed, "Well um the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter and when he picks up a mutant his brain will send a signal and then the coordinates are printed out over here." He was standing by what I assumed was the control panel and Charles had walked up to the helmet kind of thing in the middle of the room, examining it, trying to figure out how it worked,  
"This, this is incredible Hank." I couldn't help it I was deeply impressed by the entire thing, so impressed that I didn't have time to react as Charles pulled the helmet over his head and I could only be thankful that it didn't turn on the second it was pulled down or I would have been even less prepared for the surge of power that had me gripping the railing when it was turned on, Raven turned to look at me sharply,  
"What's wrong, is something wrong?" I shook my head, and wincing as Charles' powers, and therefore my own, expanded considerably,  
"Nothing's wrong, just new and a tiny bit painful," She still looked worried so just to comfort her I said, "He's fine and don't worry any pain is evenly distributed between the two of us, it barely hurts." She nodded and turned back to face Charles who was gripping the railings as hard as I had just been, he was grinning now, and laughing at the exhilaration of it all. Hanks machines began scribbling down stuff, I couldn't tell you what it was even if he explained it to me a hundred times. Then the type writer started going off, getting the coordinates down. 

Charles and Erik went to talk to the mutants, I stayed back while they did the talking and got myself ready should anything get messy, a few times it did but for the most part we found mutants who didn't want any trouble, or were just moody, but we got quite a few to join with us, I think the part I enjoyed most about it was finding out that Erik liked chess, and was good at it and I gladly volunteered to make sure neither of them was cheating if it meant I didn't have to play, turns out Charles liked to use his powers to win and I had to give him a smack several times to stop him and although Erik was nice enough I couldn't get past the sense that he was hiding something, planning something idiotic that was going to get someone hurt, badly.

We were gone a while, sending everyone back to join Raven and Hank at the facility and Moira joined us when we returned, what we returned to was well... maybe I should have stayed behind after all, Charles was trying to convince Erik that they were ready, a claim completely overturned when we rounded the corner to find blasting music, shattered windows, a statue cut in half and some very irresponsible looking kids. Erik gave Charles a look that said 'I told you so' and we all stood back as Moira stood forwards, hands on her hips and looking absolutely furious,  
"What the hell is going on here!? Who destroyed the statue?"  
"It was Alex." Hank managed to look vaguely disappointed in himself as he said it unlike the others who were laughing and probably slightly drunk,  
"No, no we have to call him Havoc, that's his new name," Raven stepped forwards and pointed to Charles, me and then Erik, "And we were thinking that you should be Professor X, you should be Spirit and you should be Magneto."   
Erik shook his head and turned away, Moira following him,  
"I expected more." Charles turned away then too and I flinched at the hurt emanating from Raven and the others,  
"Just so you know, they both like the names, just next time maybe don't wreck the place just before you were about to go on your first mission." I smiled tightly and hurried to catch up with the others,  
"I mean you've at least got to admit they are cool names," I got a disappointed glare from Moira and a very pointed sigh from Charles and I put my hands up, "Just trying to stop you guys feeling so much, it's making me uncomfortable."


	7. Chapter Seven

After the uh incident the only mutants who ended up going to find Shaw on that first mission were Erik, Charles and I. Moira came as well along with a relatively small group of soldiers, enough that if we got in trouble we could be pulled out, probably, but small enough for Charles to make invisible without too much trouble. We were hunched over in the back of a van that Levene and Moira were driving when we started to slow and Charles lifted the wooden hatch between the front and back of the truck,  
"This wasn't on the map, I'm sorry." Moira sounded scared and I looked over Charles' shoulder to see what he was looking at. A checkpoint with a bunch of Russian guards hanging around it,  
"It's fine, we'll take care of it just act as normal." She nodded and Charles closed the hatch,  
"Right everyone I am going to need you all to stay as still as you possibly can and please don't make a sound." We all nodded and I channeled a little bit of my power over to him,  
/Before you complain it is just to make sure you don't accidentally slip, there are a lot of people in here.  
/Fine, just not too much.  
We could hear Levene talking to the guards in Russian and we all froze as we heard footsteps coming round to the back, a few guards released the safety on their guns and Charles stood up, two fingers going to his temple, "Take it easy chaps, take it easy." I sent out a wave of calm to stop anyone doing anything stupid and sat as still as I possibly could and sending small waves of confidence to Charles to help him concentrate. We all held our breaths as Levene opened the doors and a guard looked around, he nodded to Levene who closed the door as quickly as he could without looking suspicious and Charles let out a relieved sigh as he collapsed back down next to Erik who grinned and patted his leg.

It didn't take us much longer to reach the place Shaw was supposed to be coming to. Levene, Erik, Moira, Charles and I lay down in some bushes and watched the house through binoculars waiting for him to arrive but it wasn't Shaw who stepped out of the helicopter, it was a woman dressed in a ridiculously short skirt and stupidly high heels,  
"My god how is she not falling over in those heels." Moira shrugged and smiled but Erik looked, and felt, furious,  
"Where is Shaw?"  
"Well obviously not here." He glared at me and I glared right back at him. Charles interrupted our staring contest and said,  
"She's a telepath, if I look into her mind she'll know we're here."  
"Maybe try one of the guards? Look through their eyes see what she says?"  
"It's worth a shot," His fingers went to his temple as he took over one of the guards minds. We stayed silent for a minute or so and then Charles shook his head, "He isn't coming."  
"Well at least we learned you can possess people," I got weird looks from both Charles and Moira for that comment, "What? If Shaw isn't here then the mission is aborted, we go back and come up with a new plan, gotta focus on the positives."   
/You truly confuse me sometimes  
/It's my pleasure.  
We smiled at each other and he was probably about to say something back but we were interrupted by Erik standing up and moving away,  
"Erik no, come back."   
"She is his right hand woman, if we are going to get any information it will be from her."  
"Yeah and running in there without a plan is a great way to get caught." He ignored me and ran off and I groaned in frustration as barbed wire came up off the ground and started attacking guards, Levene pushed himself off the ground,  
"We have to get out of here he is going to start World War Three if they find out he is connected to us." Moira moved to follow him and looked back at us to see if we were coming,  
"I'm sorry Moira but I can't leave him." She nodded and looked at me,  
"I go where he goes."

We walked out onto the field and I flinched at the pain of the guards,  
"You go on Charles, I'll get them to sleep, try and stop their pain." He nodded and raced towards the house as I crouched down next to the two guards wrapped in barbed wire and gently placing my hands on their heads, closing my eyes against their pain as I pushed bliss and sleepiness into them and Charles subconsciously let me into a tiny part of his power so I could wipe my face from their memories. The other guards seemed to be unconscious already so I just pushed calmness into them so they didn't freak when they woke up and got moving onto the house.

I walked in on Erik pouring himself a glass of what I assumed to be vodka and Charles was crouched in the ground in front of the woman who was in her underwear and had her wrists wrapped up in the metal of the bed. I was going to say something sarcastic but was stopped by the images Charles was seeing from the woman's mind,  
"Jesus Christ..."  
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she was actually smiling, how could she want a world like that? Charles turned to Erik, the hope draining from his face slightly,  
"I'm afraid we are dealing with more than we thought," he looked back at the woman, "You are coming with us, the CIA will want to interrogate you."  
"I think they have more important things to worry about right now."

She was right of course, we came back to the CIA facility destroyed, Fred and Darwin dead and Angel gone, having joined with Shaw. Not exactly what we had imagined. Hank, Raven, Alex and Sean were sitting on one of the few remaining benches waiting for us. Charles rushed up to hug Raven and Erik, Moira and I stood back slightly letting him do the talking,  
"Arrangements have been made for you to return home,"  
"We're not going home."  
"I'm sorry?"  
"How can we? Not after this, they killed Darwin."  
"That's all the more reason for you to go home."  
"You can't force them to go home Charles, if they want to fight then they should be allowed to fight, it is their choice. They just watched their friend die and there isn't even a body left to bury."  
"We may not be able to bury him but we can avenge him." Charles ran a hand through his hair and indicated for Erik and I to follow him,  
"They are kids, you can't expect them to fight."  
"We aren't far off kids ourselves Charles and we are going to fight." I very purposely made it sound as unlike a question as possible, a way to say that Erik and I were going to fight with him no matter what,  
"They aren't kids, not anymore and we cannot beat Shaw without them." Charles sighed and hung his head slightly, turning round to look at the kids who weren't quite kids anymore,  
"We will have to train. All of us, you got that?" They all nodded and I could feel their excitement, "We can't stay here it isn't safe but I know somewhere." I couldn't quite conjure the same grin to my face as the others, not when I felt Charles' uncertainty, heard his doubts,  
/It'll be fine X, they can do it.  
/X?  
/It's called a nickname Charles, one syllable is easier than two  
/Well then, Rey, I know they can do it, I'm more worried about how much more experience Shaw and his lot have.  
/Rey?  
/One syllable is easier than two  
I sighed and rolled my eyes praying to the heavens that we actually knew what we were doing to some capacity, that we weren't about to mess up a whole lot of lives. Well you know what they say, only time can tell.


	8. Chapter Eight

It turns out the place Charles made into our training center was the house he had grown up in, I say house it was more of a mansion/castle kind of thing which managed to impress everyone but Charles and Raven who had lived there for most of their lives. Just being there brought a whole load of Charles' memories to the surface.

Apparently training in Charles' mind meant him teaching everyone control without ever focusing on himself, he had me tag along to help everyone focus, to teach them what it felt like to be calm enough to control their powers. It was good practice for me and it helped the others train so really it was a win win situation.

With Erik he tried shooting him and getting Erik to stop the bullet, something he ended up not being able to do which ended up with me taking the gun out of his hand, pointing it at Erik's head and then quickly changing direction and firing at his foot, the change caught him by surprise but he managed to stop the bullet before it hit him,  
"Rhea what the hell?"  
"Well you weren't going to do it, besides as far as I'm aware a bullet in the foot isn't as fatal a wound as one to the head." Charles rolled his eyes and pointed at the enormous satellite dish that sat a few miles away,  
"Try to turn it towards us," Erik sighed but turned to face the dish putting his hands out in front of him and straining, he tried for a good few seconds before he stopped and shook his head, breathing hard, "I've always believed that focus lies between serenity and rage." He nodded to me and I stepped forwards slightly,  
"Do you mind if I-?" He shook his head and I closed my eyes, focusing on a memory of an emotion, bringing an emotion he had once felt to the surface. I felt a slight tear on my cheek at the force of it and there was a tear winding down Erik's face once I had finished,  
"What, what did you do?"   
"I searched for an emotion you once felt and brought it to the surface, if Charles had done it you would have been given the memory as well and at the moment you don't need sadness, you need peace." He nodded and took in a deep breath, I kept that emotion at the surface of his mind, just holding it in place so it didn't slip from his grasp. It came easier to him then and it only took a minute or so for him to do it, the power of emotions I guess. The enormous smile and pure joy rolling off him made my week.

For Alex we went down the nuclear bunker Charles' stepfather had built, we took a manikin with us and set it down at the far end of the room. Alex looked very judgmental and he had us go out of the room before he would try anything, when we came back in there was fire lining the floor and walls, I couldn't help a small laugh as Charles and I grabbed fire extinguishers and set out dousing the flames. Hank managed to build a prototype suit that could help him gain control and it seemed to work, kind of, he managed to hit the two manikins he wasn't meant to but he still hit something. It took some practice but by the end of the week he could focus the power enough that Charles decided it was a good idea for him and Hank to stand on either side of the manikin while Alex did his stuff, an idea I found absolutely crazy and I just stood at the back of the room and hoped to god no one died.

Sean was more confusing to work with, not only did we have to get his powers under control we also had to work out a way he could use it effectively which Charles decided meant that we could get him to fly. The first try didn't exactly go well, he jumped out of a second floor window and landed in a pile of leaves but once we got him up on top of the satellite dish that Erik had shifted he grew more confident, probably because failure meant likely death. He very nearly freaked out but Erik and I shared a look and grinned as we both gave him a shove off the edge which got us a very annoyed Charles but a very happy Sean who managed not to get himself flattened and proved that he could actually fly, it was pretty awesome even if it got me and Erik a mini lecture from Charles about pushing people off satellite dishes.

I didn't have much to do with Hank's training, I'm a terrible runner, the ability only seems to kick in when I'm in life threatening situations and training for life threatening situations didn't seem to count. The only person Charles wasn't able to help was Raven, well not in any physical way, she had her powers under control and all she needed to do was to start loving herself, I'm not sure Charles quite understood that, or understood how to help her. In his eyes she would always be that little girl he needed to protect, a child who needed to conform to society or else they would both get themselves killed.

Every night Charles and Erik sat down to play chess together while I sat by the fire, figuring out what else I could do and vaguely making sure Charles didn't cheat, their games almost always ended in an argument and clash of beliefs which led Erik to storm upstairs and Charles to sigh and head to the kitchen to be alone for a bit. One such time Raven cornered him there and they had an interesting, if not slightly heartbreaking conversation. Once she had left I quietly slipped into the room and sat opposite Charles,  
"You need to stop trying to control her X, she's going down a different path to you and maybe you have to accept that, for the first time in her life she is starting to accept herself for who she truly is."  
"I know I just, I don't know what to do, how to help her."  
"I don't think she needs your help, she just needs your acceptance, your unconditional love. No judgement, no protection. She's old enough to start looking after herself and you need to realize that, to let her go." He nodded and stayed silent, picking at a hole in the table and I sighed, "You've spent the entire week helping everyone and you haven't done anything to help yourself, I thought you said we were all going to train and yet all you are doing is helping the others."  
"It's the nature of my abilities, I don't want to hurt someone, or for them to feel like they aren't in control of themselves, besides I've spent over a decade figuring out how my gifts work, I should be okay."  
"We all need help, and you professor have been having nightmares every night this week," He opened his mouth to apologize but I shook my head, "Don't apologize, there are plenty of times you have been woken up by my nightmares but tomorrow will most likely be the big day so you and I are going to go outside, lie down on the extremely wet grass and you are going to teach me the names of the constellations and the stars," He smiled slightly at that, "I know you well enough to know how to stop a nightmare and we might actually want to get some sleep tonight."  
"Well as long as you actually listen and don't just fall asleep like you do every time I explain chess to you-"  
"Yeah yeah yeah I promise." He smiled properly then and we went outside, I grabbed a blanket on the way and lay it down so we didn't completely freeze to death and we lay it down underneath the open sky, we were far enough from civilization that we could actually see the stars and we lay there for hours, arms tucked under our heads as Charles pointed out the different constellations and told me about the origin of their names. It became a thing we did after that, every time one of us had a nightmare that awoke the other we would take a blanket outside and look at the stars, if it was raining or to cloudy we would go to the library and flick through all of the ancient books that resided there.


	9. Chapter Nine

The next morning we all came downstairs to find a note on the door of Hank's lab telling us to meet him at the airbase with the crate marked x. We all looked at each other, slightly confused as to why he wasn't there and when Charles opened the doors we all stopped short. The room was in complete chaos, tables and chairs had been flipped over, vials smashed, metal canisters crushed,  
"What the hell happened?" Charles shrugged and I turned to Erik,  
"I'm guessing something went wrong with that serum he was experimenting with." We walked through the carnage to the box at the back of the room labelled X and once we had all gathered round Charles lifted the lid and I winced slightly at what lay inside, it was our suits and they looked... interesting, to say the least. Alex seemed to share my opinion when he said,  
"Do we actually have to wear these?"  
"As far as I'm aware none of our mutation allow us survive extreme pressure or being shot at so we should suit up."  
"But was the yellow really necessary? It doesn't exactly... blend in." Charles just raised an eyebrow at me and slammed the box shut, ready to take with us to the airbase.

We put our suits on when we arrived and we lined up beside the airplane, waiting for Hank. I shifted in the suit, "This thing is bloody uncomfortable, these were very obviously built for men, they have absolutely no room for breasts? Bloody men, only ever thinking about themselves." Raven snorted slightly and Erik smirked,  
"We'll get it sorted afterwards, I think we have more important things to be worrying about right now other than how much of your breasts the suit shows off." I put my hands up,  
"I'm just saying X, it's like if he put see through fabric or whatever around Erik's torso to show off his six pack."  
"How do you know Erik has a six pack? And why around Erik?" I chuckled and gave him a pat on the shoulder,  
"Everyone knows Erik has a six pack and don't get too jealous, if you went to the gym more I'm sure you could get one too." Charles glared at me and Erik leaned over,  
"It's true, I do have one." He winked at me and I flipped him off which only served to make him laugh. I could see Sean and Alex trying not to giggle and Raven was trying to hide her grin behind her hand. 

We waited around for a few minutes before we began wondering where Hank was, just as I was about to set off to find him a very large figure appeared in the entrance way to the hangar,  
"Hank?"  
"It enhanced the cells instead of attacking them, in other words it didn't work."  
"Didn't it?" He looked over at Raven and I could feel the uncertainty pouring out of him and she reached out to touch his face, "This is who you were meant to be Hank." They smiled at each other and Erik just had to ruin the moment by giving him a pat on the arm and saying,  
"Never looked better." Hank was choking him before I could even take in what had happened and Charles stepped forwards,  
"Hank, stop it, now."  
Rhea?  
Yeah yeah just give me a sec, it's harder without physical contact  
"Woah Hank, calm down, it wasn't meant as an insult." Saying the words as I sent a wave of calm in his direction seemed to help and he dropped Erik and looked over at me,  
"Don't use your powers on me."  
"You could have killed him, I would rather not have to feel your guilt at snapping his neck for the rest of my life," He growled and shook himself, "Anyway I think we all know your hero name now, Beast. Way better than Professor X if you ask me."  
"Hey, Professor X is a perfectly good name."  
"I thought you didn't like the idea of hero names." Charles opened his mouth and closed it again, shaking his head and Hank smiled slightly. Sean finally spoke up,  
"Can you fly this?"  
"Of course I can, it's my design." That was good enough for us and we all got on board, strapping ourselves in and both Charles and I were silently praying that this would work out.  
/It'll be fine right?  
/Of course, well hopefully, it shouldn't be too hard  
/Well that is just an outright lie X, a mutant who can absorb energy surrounded by a whole bunch of other mutants and some very pissed off Americans and Russians. What could possibly go wrong?  
/I was telling myself that but thanks for the pep talk  
/You're welcome

It took us maybe an hour to get to where the ships would be facing off, and where Shaw would be, I shifted slightly at the pure terror radiating off all of the men on the ships below,  
"You okay Rey?"   
"Yeah just, all those men down there, they're all terrified, and you guys aren't exactly skipping about with joy either."  
"We'll work on shutting your gift down once all of this is over, it took me a few years to learn how to stop hearing everyone's thoughts but I got there in the end." I nodded and tried to push away all those emotions that were pressing in on me. Hank tilted the plane so that we were flying through the middle of the ships and Charles closed his eyes and reached out towards the cargo ship that could begin World War Three. He opened his eyes, wincing ever so slightly and said,  
"Shaw has taken control of the Aral Sea, the entire crew is dead, he has set it on course for the embargo line." Moira turned around to look at us,  
"Once that ships crosses the line our boys will blow it up and then there'll be no stopping another war." I looked at her and thought for a second and then turned to Charles,  
"Who said it had to be our boys?" He paused for a second, working it out and then nodded,  
"I could do it, good thinking." His eyes closed again and he drew very slightly from my power to make the command stronger, the man who had the authorization to do it had a strong will but he managed, apparently our thinking didn't get across to Hank who had to violently swerve out of the missiles way as it launched towards the Aral Sea, it took a good minute or so to level us out and once we did he turned over to look at us,  
"A little warning would be nice next time, unlike you two the rest of us can't just read your thoughts."  
"Sorry Hank."   
"Sorry, is everyone okay?" Charles turned to look at everyone and they all nodded, breathing hard, "I still can't locate Shaw and yes Rhea I have tried, adding your power to mine doesn't help." I rolled my eyes and looked over at Erik,  
"Calm down, he's down there it's just a matter of finding him. Anything on the radar or scanners Moira?" She shook her head and I sighed, this was going worse than planned,  
"Then he's underwater and we don't have sonar." Sean, Banshee, whatever you want to call him, looked up and over towards Hank,  
"Yes we do." Charles and Erik grinned as they unbuckled themselves and made their way towards the back of the plane. Hank opened the doors in the floor of the plane and Charles stood next to Sean, reminding him of a whole bunch of stuff that was probably already imprinted in his mind but it calmed the kid down enough so that he was no longer feeling a weird exhilarated fearfulness and by the time he jumped out of the plane he had full control over his powers. He had a location on Shaw in less than a minute and Charles nodded towards Erik who took in a deep breath and nodded back. 

Hank lowered the wheels, Erik standing on the front one, his hand out over the water searching for Shaw's sub. I unbuckled myself and both Charles and I leaned over the edge. He was struggling to find that point of balance and for a brief moment I brought it to him and he grabbed onto it, he stopped straining and relaxed slightly, as he did we saw the shape of the submarine rise to the surface and I couldn't help a grin,  
/He's come a long way since that first night  
/He really has  
/You know you should think about setting up a school, becoming a true professor, you would be good at it  
/It's an idea

Hank started moving the plane towards the shore, helping Erik guide it. It was incredible seeing a submarine floating in mid-air, it's propeller still spinning. It was all going so well until the tornado guy, I never got his name, came out on top of the sub and started whipping up a very large, very dangerous looking tornado that came whipping straight towards us. We got caught right in the middle of it, Erik still clinging onto the wheel for dear life as he tried to keep the sub above the water, he managed to keep hold of it just long enough to send it crashing onto the beach. Charles and I pulled him off the wheel and back into the plane seconds before we were sent crashing to the ground. The plane rolled over and over, Erik managed to catch Charles and stuck himself to the ceiling , Charles underneath him, everyone else was strapped in but of course I got the short end of the stick and was bumped around quite considerably, thankfully I went unconscious so I didn't have to deal with the horrible sensation of being whipped around a plane at god knows what speed. How I managed to not break anything is still a mystery to me.


	10. Chapter Ten

I woke up to Charles crouched over me looking extremely worried, Erik was getting everyone else out of their seats and I groaned slightly to let him know I was okay,  
"God get out of my face Charles your breath stinks, are you sure you brushed your teeth this morning?" He grinned and sat back, giving me space as I sat up,  
"Are you okay? Nothing broken?"  
"I don't think so, just bruised, oh and my heads bleeding, I'm sure it's fine though." He checked the back of my head and then gave me a once over and his face blurred slightly. I closed my eyes and took in a few deep breaths,  
"I think you have a concussion so you are going to stay here."  
"What, no, I'm fine."  
"No, you aren't, also I may need to draw from your power and it is easier to do at a close range. Don't argue and don't try to stand up." I did exactly the opposite of that and ended up collapsing back to the ground when the world started spinning. He raised an eyebrow to say I told you so and stood up,  
"I read the teleporter's mind, Shaw is turning himself into some sort of bomb, drawing all the power from the sub so Moira I am going to need you to get on the radio and get both the fleets out of here,"  
"I'm going in." Charles didn't even try to argue with Erik and just nodded,  
"Beast, Havok back him up and Erik I need you to shut down whatever it is that is blocking me, I can guide when you get in and then we all just pray that I can stop him. Raven I need you here guarding the entrance, Rhea can't fight at the moment and I need to be concentrating on Erik and Shaw." She didn't even try to argue, she knew it would be useless and I managed to push myself up on the floor and came over to lean next to Charles,  
"What are you doing?"  
"Like you said it works better the closer we are and it works best with physical contact. If Erik can't destroy whatever it is then maybe our conjoined power can do something." He knew I was right an just nodded slightly as he turned his focus to Erik. I tried not to think to hard about the fight going on outside as I dug deep into my power, pulling as much as I could to the surface and trying to push away the feeling of every scratch that landed on someone I knew, and someone I didn't.

Erik got inside easily and powered down the nuclear reactor just as Charles told him to and he moved on into the next room, seemingly the last room and he began to panic,  
"Shaw's not here Charles, he isn't here." Charles and I looked at each other and then I spoke to Erik through Charles,  
"Try looking for a secret door? Some kind of button hidden somewhere? He has to be there, there is no other place he could be."  
"How are you- Never mind there's nothing I can't find anything goddammit-" He suddenly stopped talking and a few moments later any connection Charles had to him cut off.  
"Shit. Shit shit shit." Moira looked over at us from where she was standing,  
"What? What happened?" I let out a breath and closed my eyes, trying to stop my sight from blurring and Charles answered for me, putting a hand on my arm to make sure I was okay as he did so,  
"He's gone into the void, I can't reach him." There was nothing we could do but wait and hope he managed to break through the void and for a while it looked like nothing could happen but then a crack suddenly opened up and Charles grinned, not a happy grin more of relieved one and I sat myself down on the ground as I poured my power into him, helping him get through that small opening so that he could talk to Erik again,  
"Erik it's starting to work, keep doing whatever you are doing. Do not stop." Seconds later another slightly larger opening appeared and I drew back some of my power from Charles, it was starting to work but Shaw's mind was still closed off, Erik continued to do whatever the hell it was he was doing, probably smashing stuff up but then it stopped and I felt a sudden surge of pain and anger from Erik,  
"Somethings gone wrong, Shaw's getting to him."  
"He'll be fine, he just needs to keep him distracted for a bit longer." We both knew he wasn't going to be fine, we just didn't realize how bad it was going to get, Erik was a complicated man with a complicated past, we knew that right from the start but I guess we didn't know just how complicated he was until that day, on the beach in Cuba in 1962. 

He managed to get the helmet of Shaw's head, the helmet that would soon become his, we fully trusted him and maybe we shouldn't have but who knows what would have happened if he hadn't betrayed us, maybe something much worse, maybe not, I guess we will never know but both Charles and I felt it as our powers were cut off from him, we both felt it as he killed Sebastian Shaw and we looked at each other in dread, my hand went to my mouth as a tear slipped down my face and Charles smashed his fist against the broken wall of the plane, yelling at Erik to stop, pleading at him to not do it but he was met with the strange silence, a mind he knew was there but he couldn't sense it. Like it had been wiped of the face of the planet.

Charles and Moira ran outside as they heard the clanging of the sub's walls opening and I pushed myself off the ground and followed, although slower and stopping every now and then to stop the dizziness from overtaking me, I probably shouldn't have been moving around so much but when you are trying to stop a war just as your friend betrays you I'm not sure you have a choice. Angel, Azazel and the tornado guy were standing off to one side, Raven, Hank, Sean and Alex stood together just in front of us and I joined Charles and Moira, the former putting his arm around me for support so I didn't collapse. We all watched in horror and Erik came down from the top of the sub, Shaw's lifeless body floating in front of him, blood dripping down his forehead. His supporters walked over to their former masters lifeless form as he crumpled to the ground, something crunching as it did. I winced at the noise and leaned into Charles a bit more, there was no way in heaven or hell that this would end well, that much became apparent when Erik started his villain speech, it was dramatic and honestly I got the reasoning behind it, the helmet he wore may have blocked me from reading or manipulating his emotions but I'd felt enough of them, and seen the memories that Charles had witnessed to understand his hatred of humans, why he thought they were the enemy. His thoughts were justified and I may not have agreed with them but I couldn't hate him for believing them. Charles, Moira and I walked forwards as he looked out over the sea, sensed their guns turning towards us. Who knows maybe if they had retreated that day, if they had left us alone Erik would have left them alone, I know for a fact that if they had turned away then that the bullet would never have found its way to Charles' spine but they didn't turn around, they didn't retreat, instead they followed their orders as loyal soldiers, pawns in the governments game, controlled by people who didn't particularly care whether they lived or died. Thousands of innocent men almost died that day and we barely managed to stop it.

/Is there anything you can do to stop them firing?  
/That many ships? That many men? Even with your power added to mine I couldn't fully control them and from this distance we couldn't reach the men giving orders even if we tried.  
He turned and gave Moira a slight nod and she ran back to the wreckage of the plane to try and get them to stop, he knew it wouldn't work he was just trying to get her out of harms way. I'm not sure a few metres would make a difference but if there was any way he could even hope to get her out as subtly as possible he would do it. I turned away, looking over Charles' shoulder as his hand went to my hair, Erik would stop it easily but I couldn't bear the thought of what he would do once he had those missiles in his grasp. The missiles fired and time seemed to slow as they came speeding towards us and Erik stopped them just before they hit, pausing for a moment before he began to turn them back around. Charles gave my shoulder a quick squeeze and stepped forwards,  
"We're the better men Erik, that's what you said. Don't do this, they are innocent, just following their orders."   
"I've been haunted by men following their orders my entire life. No more." His hand turned and he sent the missiles straight back to the fleet of ships, full of men with no escape. Charles took a moment to try and reason with him but it was no use, Erik's mind was set and seeing as the helmet blocked Charles' powers and Erik was solely focused on keeping those missiles on their deadly path they resorted to a good old fashioned fight as Charles desperately tried to keep Erik's attention on him long enough to let the missiles explode or fall into the ocean before any damage could be done. I felt it in my bones every time Erik landed a successful punch but I wasn't stupid enough to try and interrupt, there was nothing I could do and I would rather not be thrown around like a sack of potatoes by Erik so I stood and watched, taking any vague form of pain from Charles as if it would somehow help this fight. It didn't, Erik still got the upper hand and those missiles continued their course and just as I thought it was all over Moira was there, a gun in her hand and firing on Erik, not killing him, she knew she couldn't do that, he would deflect the bullets, but distracting him for long enough for the missiles to stop being a threat. For a split second I thought everything was going to be okay but then he deflected that bullet and I screamed as Charles fell, my vision blacking out for a moment. Raven's hands went to her mouth and I could hear someone talking, something happening but the world had stopped, there was a faint ringing in my ears as I gathered myself just enough to draw as much of the pain from Charles as I possibly could, he was in shock but that didn't mean it wasn't there. I came back to reality as Moira dropped to the ground, gasping for breath and Erik's hand lowered away from her as he turned to Charles. I continued to draw his pain away, letting him have that conversation with Erik and I managed to carry on until Erik waved Moira forwards but I had to stop if I was actually going to get up from where I had fallen. I stumbled my way off the ground and over to him. Erik let me pass and stood up, turning to the other mutants gathered there. I didn't listen to what he said to them, I focused solely on Charles, soothing as much of the panic as I could with the little energy I had left. Moira was supporting his head and shoulders, constantly repeating how sorry she was and I let Charles distract himself with that , a way to stop him thinking too hard about what had just happened. I barely noticed when Raven came over to us, I moved just enough to give her space and then moved back as she stood up and turned to Erik.

Once Erik had disappeared Hank, Sean and Alex ran over, collapsing in the sand next to Charles who tried to sit up but failed, I felt his hand grip mine as he looked into my eyes, searching for some form of comfort I knew he would not find and I just shook my head slightly, tears rolling down my cheeks as I felt him read my mind, I started shaking slightly as I felt the hope drain from him, I didn't know what to say, what to do so I just let him grip my hand and tried to drown out his panicked cries as the shock ebbed away and he felt the wrongness of it all, or rather he didn't feel anything at all in his legs, the terror in his voice broke me and it has never stopped haunting my dreams, I doubt it ever will.


	11. Chapter Eleven

We managed to get to a hospital, it took a while but we got there. In reality they couldn't do much, they couldn't magically heal him or anything, they couldn't just give him his legs back. Maybe if we had gotten there sooner... but we didn't. I couldn't blame Erik for what happened, nor could I blame Moira. It had happened and there was nothing we could do about it, there was no need to redirect hurt and pain towards someone else, not when you would still be able to feel it all anyway. The others tried to find someone to take it all out on but after a week or so they calmed down, we ended up going back home and things got better, for a little while. 

Charles did okay, he was happier than you would expect but then again he was drowning himself in work, spending all day planning out how he would manage to set up and run a school, apparently he rather liked my idea of him being a professor and by the time we got him back his mind was overrun with ideas and plans, his mood went down slightly when he had to say goodbye to Moira, it hurt him to wipe her mind but it was the best thing to do, at least for that time, maybe not in the long run but it wasn't the last we would be seeing of her. He went quiet after she left, maybe that was the match that lit the fuse.

We carried on teaching the few who remained of our group and we got the house sorted, we made it into a school, Hank perfected his serum that would keep him looking normal, it was going okay. We found willing teachers, we found willing students. It took years to bring it all together, there were ups and downs but we got it to work and the school started, one semester passed and then it all went wrong. The Vietnam War had started a year or two after Cuba and things got worse, by 1969 they started drafting people, Hank and Charles were spared but most of the teachers and older students were taken across and we had to close the school down. That was the final straw for Charles, everything started to catch up with him and he began to sink down and I tried my best to keep him up, to keep him going but over the years his powers had grown stronger, Hank theorized it was because of the connection between us, constantly feeding the other not that it really mattered. I tried to take as much of that power away as possible, drew it into myself and kept it there just so the voices would stop haunting him, so he could get a good nights sleep but eventually it became too much, having all of that power made me feel too much and I couldn't cope with it and so Hank began work on a serum, similar to his, a way to shut down his powers and give him back his legs. That was all it was meant to do but he took too much and it cut off the connection between our minds, our powers crossed over to each other meaning that if he took the right amount we would still be able to communicate without saying a word but I think in the end even having my voice, my thoughts in his head, it was just too much. He had lost everything on that beach, his best friend, his sister, his legs and Hank and I were the only ones left. We tried, we tried so hard to bring him back but with our minds no longer connected it was impossible, he was standing on the edge of a cliff and if we got to close he could fall.

The only thing we could do was stay, to not walk away but to be there for him and hope to the gods he figured it out but it was torture. Every time he needed another dose I could feel him there, just hovering at the edge of my mind and every time I tried to grab on, to make some kind of bridge no matter how flimsy it was but each time I got close a door would slam in my face and I would be left alone and I know it sounds stupid, most people would be used to being alone in their mind but after years of having someone else constantly there I felt so lost without him. It didn't get better but after a while it stopped getting worse, Hank and I spent a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure out what to do, how best to help him and well, help came from the most unexpected place. Charles, and Erik. Not out Charles or our Erik, one was drinking away the pain and the other was locked in a cell one hundred floors beneath the pentagon for the assassination of JFK, no I'm talking about future Charles and Erik, like apocalyptic future Charles and Erik. They didn't come themselves, good lord that would have been weird to see Charles possessed by a future version of him, no they came in the form of Logan. Probably the best and worst person they could possibly send but credit where it's due, he saved millions of lives, including mine over those few days that he was with us and he got Charles up and running again, something Hank and I had failed to do for the past four years.


	12. Chapter Twelve

"The hell is going on here?" I had just come back from the nearby town and I dropped the overloaded bags on the table in the atrium and walked into the office in the next room where Charles and Hank were seated with a vaguely familiar man, "Who's this?" I nodded to the man and took a seat in one of the armchairs across from where Charles was sprawled,  
"I'm Logan, who are you?"  
"Rhea now will someone please tell me why Charles is actually out of his room and a random man is sitting in our house?"  
"Logan here was just telling us about of the end of the world." Charles waved his arms around slightly, sloshing a bit of whiskey onto his already dirty shirt,  
"Nice. When's it going to happen?" I was being sarcastic of course but apparently Logan didn't understand the term because he lent forwards in his seat to look at me,  
"About fifty years from now, give or take." Now that caught my attention because he wasn't lying and I tilted my head slightly,  
"What do you want us to do?"  
"He wants us to help him stop Raven killing Bolivar Trask, getting captured and getting her DNA used to create sentinels that will wipe out Mutants in half a century." I could tell Charles didn't fully believe what he was hearing and neither did Hank but I turned to face Logan,  
"Raven won't listen to us, maybe once but she followed someone else down a different path. A darker path." Logan was unfazed by that and stood up,  
"Yeah, we're going to need Magneto to."

I raised an eyebrow and Charles burst out laughing, pushing himself off the couch and leaving the room,  
"That man, he is where he belongs."  
"You're just going to leave?"  
"Again congratulations, you have eyes."  
"The Professor I know, who is my friend, he would never turn his back on anyone he could help, he would never turn his back on someone he loved." Now that got Charles to stop and turn back around and he smiled slightly,  
"Y'know what I do remember you now. We came to you for help once, a long time ago so let me say to you what you said to us then, Fuck. Off."  
"He didn't mean Erik. Or Raven."  
"Then who? Because it kind of sounds like that is what he was implying." Logan closed his eyes and I smiled sadly,  
"He meant me."  
"You've been here all of five minutes how could you possibly know he meant you?" It sounded sharp the way it came out but he was trying to cover the panic that those two words caused him,  
"Oh for fucks sake Charles it isn't that hard to figure it out. He's from the future right? He obviously knows you and Hank, he feels familiar, not quite so alone when he is with you two but he doesn't know me."  
"He asked us who we were when he first arrived, don't jump to conclusions Rey."  
"I'm sure he did but if I was here I would have felt the recognition at your names and do you know what I felt when I told him mine? Curiosity. Sadness. Unknowing. Put two and two together..." Logan took a deep breath and nodded,  
"He said you were clever, that you would figure it out quickly, that it wouldn't matter how hard I tried you would know within the first day. I didn't expect it took take you five minutes."  
"He? Who's he?" Charles' voice had gone quiet, I could see a very slight tremor as he stood there, glass held limply in one hand. None of needed to answer that, we all knew. The older Charles, the future Charles.

I took a deep breath as he shook his head and turned away, quickly walking up the stairs. We all pretended to not see the tears in his eyes and I collapsed back into the armchair as soon as he had disappeared,  
"Well it's nice to know he still cares."  
"How the hell did you figure it out so fast?"  
"I'm fairly sure when Charles and I... connected, I took on some of his super brain. Also I'm just clever and constantly knowing people's feelings kind of helps. To be fair I was only like fifty percent sure to begin with but yeah. Anyway, he'll help you."  
"How do you know that?"  
"He loves Raven too much, he loves Erik too much, he loves me too much. No matter how hard he tries to let us go he can't, he just needs time."  
"Why would he try to let you go? I thought you were close as close can be? At least that's what Erik said."  
"Every relationship has its ups and downs. The uh, the serum that he takes, the one that gives him his legs, it takes away his powers. It shouldn't effect the connection between our minds seeing as it goes both ways but he takes too much, I don't know why, maybe he can't cope with even one voice in his head," I shrugged, trying to pretend that I wasn't upset but from the sad look Hank was giving me I could tell that I was failing, "It sounds so stupid saying it out loud, everyone else is alone in their mind but after six years of it, you get so used to it you can't imagine it not being there and then suddenly it's gone and every time he needs to take another dose I can feel him hovering there, almost like he's teasing me and then it shuts down and he's gone for another day." The room was quiet and I shook myself, smiling tightly and getting up, I didn't know where I was going. Just away. 

I went and sat on the stairs, staring at nothing. I could hear Hank and Logan talking but I didn't bother to listen in. I'd been forcing myself to look happy, to make everyone believe that I was okay. Charles needed that support and Hank, he wouldn't be able to cope if both of us went down and I was trying so hard to keep myself upright and going for them and most days I got out of bed, I put a smile on my face and I got going but some days... I put my head in my hands, letting a few tears trail down my face and I told myself to breath, to keep it together. I stayed like that for a few minutes until I heard Charles coming back down the stairs and I wiped my eyes and stood up and plastered a smile onto my face. He stopped when he saw me,  
"You okay?" I smiled and looked up at the ceiling then back at him,  
"I'm not afraid to die, I just don't want to leave you alone in this world."  
"You won't be dying any time soon, not if I have anything to say about it." He moved forwards slightly and every so slowly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug and I realized then just how long it had been since I had been hugged by anyone, let alone him and I gripped him tighter. I nearly broke at the soft kiss he placed on my head and I blinked as hard as I could to stop any tears. What was it with all the crying recently? It was kriffing annoying. 

He let me go and walked over to where Hank and Logan were waiting, I followed and sat on the table where I had left the shopping bags , putting a few on the floor so I could sit,  
"I'll help you but not for the future of mutant kind shit, for Raven and for Rhea," Logan nodded in agreement, "All I want to know is why? Why do you believe you can change Erik? Because believe me that man is evil, he is a monster."  
"You and Erik sent me back, together." I had no doubt I looked as shocked as Hank, and undoubtedly Charles, did in that moment but I clapped my hands and got off the table,  
"Right, Hank, put away the shopping, I'll go and find a map of the pentagon and Charles, Logan, figure out how the fuck we are going to break the man who murdered JFK out of a prison one hundred layers beneath the most heavily guarded building in the world."   
"The man who what?" I snorted and left Charles to explain while I ran upstairs to the office and started searching through the drawers for one full of maps. It took a while to find one but by the time I got back downstairs the table was cleared and I spread the map out,  
"Right, Charles, any ideas?"  
"We could use all that chocolate you bought." I glared at him and he smirked ever so slightly,  
"I'm not the one who gets up in the middle of the night to honk it all but in all seriousness we quite literally have nothing. Charles doesn't have his powers to hide us as we move along and I don't have any access to those powers, I'm not sure how mine could help and you and Hank, Logan. Well brute strength is not going to help."  
"I might know someone. 1973? He'd be a teen at the moment," he nodded, thinking about it, "Yeah he could do it, easily. The only problem is how the hell we find him." Hank turned to Charles,  
"Is cerebro-" It got an immediate shake of the head and I softly said,  
"He just took another dose, it would be to long a wait even if he wanted to but I mean we have a phone book I guess."


End file.
